The Serpents were old friends of the Aldecaldos. Saul agreed to the ard escort without hesitation and sent Mitch and Scorpion with four vehicles of Aldecaldos fighters to ride back with Carlo.
The convoy rolled out into the Badlands. Endless dead-yellow desert in every direction, wind cutting hard across the flats, nothing to look at but jagged rock formations and stands of thorned cactus.
Carlo drove the return leg. He was noticeably better than when they'd left the Serpents camp.
On the way, Jackie turned over what he'd seen of the Aldecaldos camp. Large operation. Tight defenses. Heavy fencing all the way around, sentries posted at regular intervals. The Serpents camp didn't co close to comparing. The Chaos Blades had hit them harder than either he or Vito had thought.
The convoy reached the Serpents camp and the vehicles had barely stopped before Nomads were moving to unload. Crates of weapons and ammunition were carried into the supply tents in a steady stream.
Carlo didn't linger. He said a quick word to Max and went straight for his tent, pulled the flap shut behind him, and went completely still, sealed in, cut off from the camp as thoroughly as he could manage.
Jackie and Max went to the cargo section of the heavy transport. Electronic components, wiring, and disassembled charges were spread across every surface.
The ergency lamp threw cold light across the space. Vito's hands moved fast, working electromagnetic coils, capacitors, and a simple detonator together with the ease of soone who'd done it a hundred tis. He didn't look up. The camp outside might as well not have existed.
"Vito. What are you building in here? That's not going to go off, is it?"
Vito set everything down at the sound of Jackie's voice. Then he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
The movent stopped both Jackie and Max cold.
"Don't! There are charges everywhere in here. What are you doing smoking?"
Vito was unconcerned. He offered them both one.
"It's not that century anymore. This stuff doesn't go off from a stray spark. I'm building a large-format EMP grenade. Put all of the Chaos Blades' robots on the ground at once."
That settled Jackie and Max down considerably, though neither of them accepted the cigarette.
Jackie checked that they were alone in the cargo section. Then he lowered his voice.
"I'll be straight with you. Carlo was wrong the whole way there."
Vito glanced at Max and let Jackie keep going.
"Distracted from the mont we left. Nearly drove us into the Badlands three tis. Was spacing out like a full cyberpsycho. Then sowhere on the road he just randomly asked how rcs handle traitors."
Vito nodded and looked at Max.
"What's your read?"
Max answered without a pause.
"Carlo isn't the mole. But he and the mole are close."
Jackie agreed.
"He knows exactly who it is. Just call him in here and ask him directly. Save everyone the trouble."
Vito shook his head.
"Not yet. Jackie, walk through everything. Every conversation, every strange mont, from the ti you left until you got back. Leave nothing out."
Jackie went through it in full, including the stop at the Aldecaldos camp.
Vito listened, then worked it through.
"He probably figured out who the mole was sowhere in the middle of the drive. Max. Who's Samir?"
"Samir Wilson. Sa as Carlo. I raised her. They grew up together. Carlo's a little older and he looked out for her the whole way up. Like a big brother.
But Samir can't be the mole. She would never sell her people out to the Night Wraiths."
Vito held back a comnt. Max had raised what seed like half the clan and every ti a na ca up it was definitely not the traitor.
"All right. Then we don't tip anyone off. I'll have Jackie watch Carlo. That work for you?"
Max hesitated. He was worried that if Carlo realized he was being watched, it would damage sothing that mattered to him.
"Max. My alliance is with the Serpents. Not just the leader."
The implication was plain: don't let personal feeling burn down the whole clan.
"Fine. I just hope Jackie is soone who actually knows how to tail a person."
Jackie tapped his chest.
"Don't worry about it. I'm big, but nobody will know I'm there."
Vito knew Jackie's capabilities, but this was too important to leave at that.
"If we spook whoever is behind this, they go deeper and we lose them. And it'll shake the clan's confidence right before we need them focused on the Chaos Blades.
You stay on Carlo quietly. No sudden moves. Track every step he takes. Don't let him notice. Don't get into any direct confrontation with him. Anything happens, you co to and Max first."
...
He lowered his head back to the EMP device and didn't co up again.
The faint sounds of assembly filled the cargo section. His hands moved with precision, each component placed exactly where it needed to be.
This EMP was purpose-built for the Kang Tao civilian robots. One detonation and every piece of electronics, cyberware, and machinery in the blast radius would be down instantly. The centerpiece of the whole operation, but he needed the yield calibrated right. Frying his and Jackie's neural interfaces in the process would be a problem.
Jackie nodded, said nothing more, and moved to find a position that looked like he was resting. His eyes stayed on Carlo's tent.
Ti passed. The Badlands night ca down completely over the camp. Lights in the tents flickered on and gradually went dark. Most of the clan was asleep. Only the sentries moved, circling in the wind and dust, and the quiet that settled in was the heavy kind.
Carlo's tent stayed still.
Then, well into the night, the flap shifted open just far enough for a person to slip through.
Carlo ca out slow and low. He had his combat gear on. His face was blank, but underneath it sothing was churning, panicked and resolved at the sa ti. His right hand was pressed against the pistol at his hip, knuckles white.
He checked the camp in every direction, worked around the patrol routes without making a sound, and moved quickly toward a tent in the corner of the camp. Samir's tent.
The night was thick and dark. Carlo's outline moved through the wind and dust, closing the distance, the pistol at his hip catching a cold glint of light.
He pulled the tent flap open and went through like a hunting cat. He pulled Samir off the bed and onto the ground. Her cry was cut off by his hand over her mouth.
When he spoke his voice was barely above a whisper, but the controlled fury underneath it was unmistakable.
"Samir. Tell where he is."
Samir's tears were running freely. She shook her head over and over, not fighting him, just making small broken sounds against his palm.
A voice ca from the corner of the tent.
"Hard to answer with your hand over her mouth, choom."
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